Benjamin L. Cardin: doesn't go past 5:00. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. mr. cardin: mr. president, let me thank my colleague from west virginia and congratulate him on the bill that's on the floor, the re-authorization of the federal aviation administration. it's a bill i think we all could be proud of, and i thank him for his long work. but i first would like to ask unanimous consent that the

Benjamin L. Cardin: privileges of the floor be granted to scott j.glick, department of justice detailee to the senate judiciary committee during today's session. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. cardin: mr. president, let me just comment, mr. glick will be leaving us tyson. he has been -- leaving us soon. he has been an invaluable resource for the subcommittee i

Benjamin L. Cardin: chaired that dealt with terrorism and homeland security. i just want to thank him for his dedicated work here in the united states senate. it was extremely important, the work that we did, dealing with the espionage statute, dealing with terrorists generally, and i just want to thank him for his service. mr. president, i rise today to speak on the legislation to re-authorize the federal

Benjamin L. Cardin: aviation administration. our national economy is recovering from the worst economic recession in decades. critical to getting our economy moving forward and getting americans back to work is building an efficient and modern intermodal transportation system, and this bill will help us deal with that. i am pleased to see that this legislation, which is estimated

Benjamin L. Cardin: to create 280,000 jobs at airports around the country is one of the first orders of business in the 112th congress. it demonstrates that this body is focused on job creation as well as improving our infrastructure, particularly as it relates to our nation's aviation system to ensure that america is ready for business. the airline industry accounts

Benjamin L. Cardin: for nearly 11 million u.s. jobs, jobs, $1.2 trillion in annual economic activity. this bill provides the airline industry the essential infrastructure it needs to succeed and remain strong and competitive in the global airline industry. every day, the federal aviation administration faces the daunting task of marshalling thousands of airliners and air travelers on those planes across

Benjamin L. Cardin: the country from airports to airfields both large and small, located in every corner of our nation. these members of the federal work force safely guide thousands of airplanes, serving tens of thousands of air travelers across america's skies every day. i applaud my colleague, senator rockefeller's dedication in getting this much-needed

Benjamin L. Cardin: legislation to the floor of the senate. i greatly appreciate his willingness in the last congress to incorporate a provision of mine that is important to keeping small rural airports in maryland and other parts of our country in operation. i look forward to working with him to continue to build upon the work that was done on this important bill as it moves forward. this bill is not just important

Benjamin L. Cardin: to our big airports, it's important to all the airports in this country. there are many challenges facing the f.a.a. and air travelers. this bill sets a clear path toward addressing these challenges, not the least of which is working to reduce the number of flight cancellations and the frequency of flight delays that can range anywhere from ten minutes to nine or more